Synopses & Reviews
A breakout new novel from the critically acclaimed novelist and playwright Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned.
Praise for The Great Perhaps. . .
'The Great Perhapsis a darkly funny, lyrical, and shrewdly observant chronicle of a family on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Joe Meno has the rare ability to evoke midlife melancholy and teenage angst with equal authority."Tom Perrotta, author of Electionand The Abstinence Teacher
'I think The Great Perhapsis the wisest, most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since The Corrections. A marvelous book."Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspottingand Crime
. . . and for Joe Meno
'Joe Meno is an interesting case: a punk/noir stylist who can imitate something more rarefied, poetic, and universal."Elle
'Meno is the closest thing [Chicago"s] got to a literary ambassador."GQ
'What to make of Joe Meno, whose icepick-sharp books include many elements that might reasonably be described as quirky, but are rather heartfelt, beautifully written and vivid as a bad dream'"or a very, very good one?"Washington Post Express
Review
"[C]ontains more elements of magical realism than Meno's previous work, yet even the human-shaped cloud that Madeline chases for weeks somehow seems real thanks to the note-perfect dialog and narrative." Library Journal
Synopsis
The sky is falling for the Caspers, a family of cowards: for Jonathan, a paleontologist, searching in vain for a prehistoric giant squid; for his wife, Madeline, an animal behaviorist with a failing experiment; for their daughter, Amelia, a disappointed teenage revolutionary; for her younger sister, Thisbe, on a frustrated search for God; and for grandfather Henry, who wants to disappear, limiting himself to eleven words a day, then ten, then nine. Each fears uncertainty and the possibilities that accompany it. When Jonathan and Madeline suddenly decide to separate, this nuclear family is split, each member forced to confront his or her own cowardice, finally coming to appreciate the cloudiness of the modern age. With wit and humor,
The Great Perhapspresents a revealing look at anxiety, ambiguity, and the need for complicated answers to complex questions.
Synopsis
With wit and humor, The Great Perhaps presents a revealing look at anxiety, ambiguity, and the need for complicated answers to complex questions.
Synopsis
With wit and humor, this new work from acclaimed author and playwright Meno (Hairstyles of the Damned) presents a revealing look at anxiety, ambiguity, and the need for complicated answers to complex questions.
About the Author
Winner of a Nelson Algren Award, a Pushcart Prize, and a finalist for the 2008 Story Prize, Joe Meno has written two short story collections and four novels, including Hairstyles of the Damned and The Great Perhaps. He teaches creative writing at Columbia College in Chicago.